{Morii} Work, Work, Work that Linoleum

Two things happened with the blue linocut block. The obvious is that it was a crumbly block that didn't carve well. The second issue was that I failed to create a register so that the following two colours (because I wasn't going to completely waste the time I put into carving it) to line up correctly. Every time I wiped off the ink, more of the block would crumble. I mean, you literally couldn't touch the block without creating more crumbles that stuck to the block and wrecked the inking process.

That wasn't the end of my failings. The bigger blocks of lino that I ordered to do Mina's design on showed up. I can't visualize size/measurements because of my TBI, but that didn't stop me from buying two 6x12in blocks for an 8x11in design without actually measuring with a ruler. Not wanting to let the incorrectly sized blocks go to waste, I decided to try the sacred heart design again. This time, I wanted to try the wood glue transfer method.

Okay, here's a thing about tutorials online that deal with printers. If they say you can use an "inkjet printer", they probably mean you need to use a laser printer. What's supposed to happen is that the wood glue transfers the black of your design to the block and you just have to wipe away the paper with a wet towel or your fingers. This doesn't work with inkjet because it uses ink. It will work with a laser printer because it uses toner. Again, I usually find things out the hard way now thanks to good ole TBI.

More successful this time around! I even tried to throw in a little texture on the heart. Again, my inability to visualize size came into play with the ink knife/spatula thing. Gonna be honest: didn't really need 8in. 6 would have been more than plenty for what I needed to do with it. Another again, making a registration, even for a single colour of ink, would have been helpful. I only made 4 prints since I'm just figuring everything out, but none of them were in the same spot on the paper.

I find this entire process incredibly rewarding and calming. It's been nice to have something to take a break from the clay work because there's only so many times right now that I can handle having my clay stuff break in my hands or just not throw halfway properly because I completely Hulk Out.

Yeah. The big octopus piece I've been working on for a few weeks now fell apart in my hands as I glazed it. 5 tentacles broke off and a number of suckers. I'm not sure if I should keep going and glue everything back together after glaze firing or if I should toss it and start over. I feel like it would be a waste of glaze if I don't try to salvage it.

While I try to get my brain to figure that one out, I'll keep working on figuring linocut printmaking out as well.